IPL 2021: Match 5 – KKR vs MI – Mumbai Indians Predicted Playing XI

2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020. It is no number series or arrangement puzzle of analytical reasoning, but the years that the mighty Mumbai Indians have gone onto lose their opening games in the Indian Premier League.

Continuing the trend, they added one more year to the tally as the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) got the better of them in the season opener, a match they lost by two wickets on the 240th ball of the game. A wrong start, however, is right for the slow starters as once MI gets going, few teams have the capacity to stop them.

In contrast to their campaign, their rivals in match 5 – Kolkata Knight Riders – started their IPL 2021 journey on a winning note, defeating David Warner’s Sunrisers Hyderabad by 10 runs in an enticing clash. MI and KKR’s has been the most one-dimensional rivalry in the league: KKR has played them 27 times, and have lost 21 of those. If statistics are to be relied upon, MI vs KKR might just go in the foregone conclusion category. Can MI make their already one-sided record more one-sided? Should they fancy that, what can their ideal XI be?

Here’s the Predicted Playing XI of Mumbai Indians (MI) for IPL 2021 Match 5:

Openers – Rohit Sharma, Quinton de Kock

Rohit Sharma and Chris Lynn Quinton de Kock. In a league as highly competitive as the IPL, Chris Lynn has often found himself underutilized. He was a part of the team in 2020 but did not get a single game. In 2021, he got a chance not because he was the first-choice opener, but because the Indians’ first-choice opener was forced to sit out owing to his quarantine regulations. Even though he scored a 35-ball 49 on his MI debut, with Quinton de Kock available, there is little to no chance that Lynn will find a spot for himself.

Having missed a significant part of the last season due to injury, Rohit Sharma managed 19 from 15 before being run-out in the first game. One can expect him to fire after a frustrating end to one fluent innings.

Middle-order – Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan

Both Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan got themselves a start before being dismissed. While Yadav got 31 off 23, including four boundaries and a six, before perishing to Kyle Jamieson, Kishan managed a 19-ball 28 with a couple of fours and a solitary six before Harshal Patel pinged him LBW. Given how consistent the two men have been for the team, they are the default choices in MI’s middle-order.

All-rounders – Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya

Neither of the three in Pandya Brothers and Kieron Pollard could contribute much with the bat: Hardik (13 off 10), Krunal (run-a-ball 7), Pollard (7 off 9). On the given night, Harshal Patel proved too good for all three all-rounders as he accounted for all of them. Krunal did manage a wicket, that of Washington Sundar, although neither one in Hardik or Pollard bowled. All that said, expect them to be in action once again.

Bowlers – Marco Jansen, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah

Marco Jansen was impressive on debut as he made good use of his height and scalped a couple of wickets, giving away 28 runs from his spell of four overs. After a promising start, he seems to be a sure entrant in the eleven against KKR.

Both Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult had to endure an assault from AB de Villiers, which spoilt their figures to some extent, however, they bagged three wickets combined nonetheless. Speaking of enduring an assault, things went awry for Rahul Chahar, who went wicket-less while leaking runs at an economy of 10.75. Expect an unchanged attack nonetheless.